Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna Louise Ciccone (born 16 August1958), known simply by her first name Madonna, is an American pop singer-songwriter, record and film producer, film director, dancer, actress, author and a fashion icon. Guinness World Records listed Madonna as the most successful female recording artist of all time. Madonna is often referred to, by the media, as the 'Queen of pop'[1] Madonna's record company credited her as having sold over 350 million albums and 160 million singles worldwide. [1]

"A lot of people are just really confused by me; they don’t know what to think of me, so they try to compartmentalize me or diminish me. Maybe they just feel unsafe. But any time you have an overtly emotional or irrational, negative reaction to something, you’re fearing something that it’s bringing up in you."

"I just like the idea of pills. I like to collect them but not actually take them. When I fell off my horse, I got tons of stuff: Demerol and Vicodin and Xanax and Valium and Oxycontin, which is supposed to be like heroin. And I'm quite scared to take them. I'm a control freak."

"I wanted to be a boy when I was growing up because I was in love with all of the male dancers I knew and they were all gay. And I thought, Well, if I was a boy, they'd love me. So I got into role-playing then. That's where it began. I remember when I was still in high school, I had cut my hair off really short, and I was totally anorexic - I had no boobs - and I would dress like a boy and go to gay clubs and my goal was to trick men into thinking I was a boy."

"I liked my body growing up and I wasn't ashamed of it. I liked boys and didn't feel inhibited by them. Maybe it comes from having brothers and sharing a bathroom. The boys got the wrong impression of me at high school. They mistook forwardness for promiscuity. When they don't get what they want, they turn on you. I went through this period when all the girls thought I was loose and the boys said I was a nymphomaniac. The first boy I ever slept with was my boyfriend and we'd been going out a long time."

"She never had public favor; it was a bit like the Hillary Clinton thing. She did all the right things for her country, but she wasn't ultimately revered. So she had a conversation with her confidant-adviser. She asked him, when have they ever looked up to or idolized a woman? Only one, he told her, the Virgin Mary. So she said, Then I will become like the Virgin Mary, and she did. She created a facade for herself; she stopped having lovers; she became like a virgin. She became sexless, and painted her face in a white alabaster way, and turned herself into an icon that was untouchable and sexless, and then she had everybody's respect."

"Phallic symbols. You know Catholics. I used to draw people naked all the time in my art class and my nun teachers used to tell me I had to put clothes on them. So I just drew lines around their bodies. See-through clothes."

"Fame is a by-product. Fame is something that should happen because you do work that speaks to people and people want to know about your work. Unfortunately the personality of people has taken over from the work and the artistry and it's this thing now that stands on its own. I don't think one should ever aspire to being famous."

Madonna Onstage in San Diego on election night, congratulated President-elect Barack Obama before a giant projected backdrop of an Obama campaign poster that read, “WE WON.” It ended with Madonna getting the crowd to chant “We are one!”

If we can elect an African American as president, we can support gay marriage! Defeat prop 8! We will not give up!

"One is that we are all responsible for our actions, our behavior, and our words, and we must take responsibility for everything we say and do. When you get your head wrapped around that, you can no longer think of life as a series of random events - you participate in life in a way you didn't previously. I am the architect of my destiny. I am in charge. I bring that to me, or I push that away. You can no longer blame other people for things that happened to you. The other is that there is order in the universe, even though it looks like chaos. We separate the world into categories: this is good and this is bad. But life is set up to trick us. It's a series of illusions we invest in. And ultimately those investments don't serve our understanding, because physicality is always going to let you down, because physicality doesn't last."

"When I experienced what was going on first hand, I just got sucked into the whole thing. Thank God I did. I met some amazing people and, hopefully, I’ve changed the lives of a lot of children. Just as important, I think it’s been an incredible growing and learning experience for me." (About her work in Malawi).

"Not only does society suffer from racism and sexism but it also suffers from ageism. Once you reach a certain age you're not allowed to be adventurous, you're not allowed to be sexual. I mean, is there a rule? Are you supposed to just die?"

I hate polite conversation. I hate it when people stand around and go, 'Hi, how are you?' I hate words that don't have any reason or meaning. Also I hate it when people smoke in elevators and closed in places. It's just so rude.

I don't take drugs. I never did. All the feelings that drugs are supposed to produce in you - confidence or energy - I can produce naturally. The only problem is going to sleep. But I never take pills... I drink herbal teas.

I think that life is a paradox and you have to embrace that in your work and your belief systems... you can't be a literalist, and that's the trouble that people always find themselves in. That's why people always hit a wall with any of my stuff, because you can't take it literally.

"That consciousness is everything and that all things begin with a thought. That we are responsible for our own fate, we reap what we sow, we get what we give, we pull in what we put out. I know these things for sure."

Be strong, believe in freedom and in God, love yourself, understand your sexuality, have a sense of humor, masturbate, don't judge people by their religion, color or sexual habits, love life and your family.

"I pay attention to what’s going on around me. I’m always looking for new energy, new talent, new voices. When you do that I think it’s easier to come up with fresh ideas. It's not that my career has been based on surprising people, but it’s been about challenging myself — to constantly do new things that are going to broaden my own mind and in the process, hopefully, connect with other people."

"I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star. I didn’t know anybody. I wanted to dance. I wanted to sing. I wanted to do all those things. I wanted to make people happy. I wanted to be famous. I wanted everybody to love me. I wanted to be a star. I worked really hard and my dream came true."

I have a cage
It's called the stage
When I'm let out
I run about
And sing and dance and sweat and yell
I have so many tales to tell
I like to push things to the edge
And inch my way along the ledge
I feel like God, I feel like shit
The paradox, an even split
It's just a job, I always say
I should be grateful everyday
Sometimes I think I just can't do it
But I persist and I get through it
And I console myself each night
At least my cage is filled with light.

"The cross is a very powerful symbol and it symbolizes suffering, but it also is connected to a person who was loving and sharing and his message was about unconditional love. I tried to take a powerful image and use it to draw attention to a situation that needs attention. For me, we all need to be Jesus in our time. Jesus' message was to love your neighbor as yourself and these are people in need."

"I fear the future I wish for my children is at risk, so I'm taking action. Please join me. Our greatest risk is not terrorism, and it's not Iraq or the "Axis of Evil". Our greatest risk is a lack of leadership, a lack of honesty and a complete lack of consciousness. Unfortunately our current government cannot see the big picture. They think too small. They suffer from the “what's in it for me?” syndrome. The simple truth is that the current administration has squandered incredible opportunities to bring the world together, to promote peace in regions that have only known war, to encourage health in places that are ravaged with disease, to make us more secure by living up to our principles at home and abroad. The simple truth is that the policies of our current administration do not reflect what is great about America."

"If you don't like my attitude, then you can fuck off, just go to Texas and suck George Bush's dick!"

(Singing 'I Love New York' at Coachella Festival 2006).

"When I came to New York it was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi-cab, the first time for everything. And I came here with 35 dollars in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done."

"For me, a male image that I'm really moved by is somewhere between of Oscar Wilde type of a male: the fop, the long hair, the suits, too witty for his own good, incredibly smart, scathingly funny - all that. But then my other ideal is more like the Buddhist monk - the shaved head, actually someone who sublimates their sexuality."

"I am attracted to a thug. I like that quality, but I like the other side of it, too. Because all guys who go around behaving in macho ways are really scared little girls. So you have to look beneath the surface. There's a difference between my ideal man and a man that I'm sexually attracted to, believe me. Therein lies the rub."

"David Bowie has a huge influence on me because his was his first concert I went to see. I remember watching him and thinking I didn't know what sex he was, and it didn't matter. Because one minute he was wearing body stockings - the whole Ziggy Stardust thing - and the next minute he was the Thin White Duke in white double-breasted suits, and there's something so androgynous about him. And I think androgyny, whether it's David Bowie or Helmut Berger, that has really really influenced my work more than anything."

"When I got my first paycheck, $5'000 or something. I bought a Leger and I bought a Frida Kahlo self-portrait, but I don't know which came first. But I remember buying it and I had just gotten married and it looked completely out of place in my house in Malibu." (When asked what was the first painting she bought).

"I've always been kind of obsessed with Frida Kahlo, so I was really into the idea of getting something that belonged to her. And then from Frida Kahlo I found out about Tina Modotti and then I started collecting her stuff and Edward Weston, and one person always leads to another person with me, because for me it started with Diego Rivera, then it went to Frida Kahlo, then it went to Tina, and Edward and... Also, if you're into Picasso, and you want to find out about him and that whole area of art and European culture, then you start reading about Man Ray and the surrealists and Andre Breton, and all of a sudden you're in that whole world and you start having interests in other people. It's like a disease."

"One set of circumstances does not complete you. Maybe nothing ever does. So you work on your life and you work on your 'work' and you try to live every single day like it's your last. And you try to be better, to yourself and to others. I don't always succeed. But I try and it's my goal."

"Straight men need to be emasculated. I'm sorry. They all need to be slapped around. Women have been kept down for too long. Every straight guy should have a man's tongue in his mouth at least once."

"Then there are guys who say 'I have never fantasized about being with a man.' They are lying. And the least offensive men I've been with in terms of their sexual politics and how they view me as a woman, have been men who have either slept with men, or at least kissed or held a man once. It opens up your thinking. You don't think that women are less-than you are."

"My pussy has nine lives."

"A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That's why they don't get what they want."

"I think I have a dick in my brain. I don't need to have one between my legs."

"I was born my mother's son, but I will die my sister's brother. I no longer balk at the truth, because when all is said and done and written, I am truly proud that Madonna is my sister and always will be." [17]

"It was fucking endless. Every time we went to his goddamn house in Malibu, from the moment we arrived until the moment we left: 'Marry me, just marry me.' And she [Madonna] was like, 'Hahaha.' He was endless." (on David Geffen constantly asking Madonna to marry him) [18]

Joe Henry: "I've known her since I was 15 and she was 17, longer than I've known my wife. We have had a great relationship, and part of that was because I never needed anything from her. I recognised that we were in two different occupations. Not to disparage one ounce of her musicality, I was always of the belief that her persona was her career. Whether she was making a movie or writing a song or punching a photographer, it was all pushing a persona forward, and that was the real body of work. I was never tempted to slip a song to her at thanksgiving." [27]

"She was in the process of becoming the biggest star in the world. I just wanted to make my films and hide. I was an angry young man. I had a lot of demons and don't really know who could have lived with me at the time. I was just as badly behaved as her, so I can't point the finger of blame." [28]

"She was a phenomenon, but nothing could have told anybody what would happen next. I describe that marriage as loud. That's how I remember it. I don't recall having a single conversation in four years of marriage. I've talked to her a few times since, and there's a whole person there. I just didn't know it. I was just living in my own head. Who was it that said: 'Men are vain, particularly young men'? That was me, and I liked to drink a lot. [29]

Sting: "She's outrageous, she's provocative, she's inscrutable. And over the years, we've all been witnessed to her evolution, from street smart kid sister to virgin bride, from sex goddess to a yogi. Her mind is as celebrated as her body, she's as feared as she's desired, she leads while others follow... A woman who is all woman, and all women." [32].

Mary J. Blige: "I don't think the music business, as far as females, would be anything without Madonna." [33]

Tupac Shakur: "I was letting people dictate who should be my friends. I felt like because I was this big Black Panther type of nigga, I couldn't be friends with Madonna. And so I dissed her, even though she showed me nothing but love. I felt bad, because when I went to jail, I called her and she was the only person that was willing to help me." [34]

Marilyn Manson: "I watched a screening of her [Madonna's] film and I was sitting right next to her, which to me was exciting still. I’m not jaded enough to not be excited by that." [35]

Sinéad O'Connor: "I love her, I adore her and I respect her. I pity her for all the analysis she has to put up with." [36]

"What's your issue? You know how many old geezers do you see with young women. What's the double standard? Who cares? You know, they're both adults. Who cares? What's good for the goose is good for the gander." (When asked about what she thinks about Madonna dating younger man). [37]

Mirwais: "Once I collaborated with the Queen Bee, whoever came after her seemed a little boring to me! Many came to ask me to produce tracks, from Depeche Mode to Jennifer Lopez, but I said no to all of them!" [40]

DJ Enferno: "She has so much knowledge– she’s been in the business for so long, she’s got so many good ideas, and she’s really witty, that was one surprising thing that I found out about her. She’s really sharp and she’ll kind of bust your chops a little bit." [41]

Seymour Stein: "I was in the hospital, I had her come see me in the hospital, we talked a deal in the hospital and we did the deal in the hospital. Within days, even before I got out of the hospital, she was starting to record what became her first single, Everybody, and we were off and running. I saw her staunch determination and I knew she would work as hard as I did and much harder, in fact. And that's what you need in an artist. She worked harder than anybody. I just saw her perform in Berlin, and she still works harder than anybody." [42].

Shakira: "I admire Madonna because she always did whatever she felt like doing. She went through some controversial periods when people rejected her, but she kept on reinventing herself." [43].

Daddy G.: "Working with Madonna is something to tell to your grandsons." [44]

DJ Gordon Edge: "She is very natural. I did not get to know her as a person but she is down-to-earth and straightforward. She just speaks her mind." [45]

Donna Summer: "I was sitting around thinking I should do something. I was thinking about design school. A friend said, 'Are you out of your mind? Do an album.' But I like privacy and I like my space. I like being with my family. You have to be in the right frame of mind. You can't be like 'Don't touch me.' to your fans or saying 'I don't want to sign autographs.' I think I was exhausted for a lot of years. I have to take my hat off to people like Madonna. They keep doing it." [46].

Ayumi Hamasaki: "I really like Madonna. What I admire is she's made it on her own terms." [47].

"Just the fact that she made it look good to control your own life when that was something that was not supposed to be very sexy for a woman. She's one of the few women who has remained true to herself and been a character." [48]

"I really respect Madonna and I think she's quiet attractive a person, but, although it's not her fault, it does exist a world that surrounds her and spoils everything. It's not her, it's the media and all of this. I received an offer to write a lyric and a melody for her, and I felt quite honored." [49]

Beyoncé: "I love Madonna. I do! Definitely. It all works for Madonna. I mean, I couldn’t do a lot of the things she does, but it works for her. I watched the "Human Nature" music video for the "Check On It" video even though it didn’t come out anything like it. I wanted to do something like that but we didn’t have time to do it because it was just a 12-hour shoot." [50]

"When I did that Metallic stuff for my "Umbrella" video, I didn't do it to show my body. I didn't do it for people to like me. I did it because it was a cool visual, unexpected and I looked hot. I just find myself leaning towards stuff that only Madonna can pull off." [52].

Sean Combs: "I'd like to do something with Madonna in Malawi. I see what she does and I think it's fantastic. I'd like to help in any way I can." [53]

Ricky Martin: "I know Madonna as a mother, and she’s exemplary, the love she gives her kids is a dream, and I know that her heart is big enough to adopt not just one child but to adopt 20." [54].

Bono: "Madonna should be applauded for helping to take a child out of the worst poverty imaginable and giving him a better chance in life. Baby David is lucky to have been adopted by someone who can give him a chance of survival in this world and I don't think it's fair that people are criticizing her." [55]

Melanie Brown: "It's easy for critics to knock celebrities who choose to adopt, but it's a good thing that Madonna's doing. Not only is she highlighting the plight of orphans in Africa, she's also giving this little girl the chance of a better life." [56].

Christina Aguilera: "I do look up to Madonna as a businesswoman. I enjoy looking back at the body of her work and the different changes. I love the fact that she’s been a risk-taker – and pretty fearless in some of her choices." [57]

"I performed at Mom and Dad's party when I was four. Oh my gosh, I was singing a Madonna song and I peed myself."

"I would really, really, really like to be a legend like Madonna. Madonna knows what to do next, and when she's performing, the audience is just in awe of her."

"I really love 'Like a Prayer' because it was the first one I learned every word to." (2008).

Jon Bon Jovi: "Madonna has been incredibly important to the 1980s, musically... a little disco queen who... became an icon." (1990).

Alice Cooper: "Look at Madonna; she did all the outrageous stuff, but she could sing. She was a great performer! If she got up there and she couldn't sing a lick, I'd go, 'Ok, this is a sideshow.' But, she can really sing." [59]

"I'd rather do it with Madonna
She's what a woman's supposed to be
Oh Madonna won't you do it with me?
The only girl I'll ever need
She's really got me on my knees
Have you seen that film clip where she's wearing the cowboy hat and she's kicking the dirt." (from the song "I'd Rather Do it with Madonna") [60].

"I just want to say how much I enjoyed Madonna's performance. She is an absolute professional and she makes us all look like amateurs."

"Madonna is the ultimate in our day and age of the grass being greenest. Guy Ritchie is a lucky man. I do happen to fancy Madonna. She rehearses her arse off. Goes to the gym every day. She does all that stuff to get it spot-on and then she delivers. I'm in awe of her drive." [61]

"I’m fascinated by Madonna of all the famous people I have ever been introduced to, she was the only person who had that thing you imagine that Elvis or Marilyn Monroe had where you walk into a room and all the oxygen disappears in their direction." [62]

"You know what? Everyone always talks about her image or her personality or her political stance. But for me it’s actually the voice and the songs. I think she is totally underrated as a vocalist and as a songwriter. She deserves so much more credit for her melodic sense and her emotive voice. I don’t know why people haven’t joined the dots yet but you can pretty much put her in a room with anyone and she’ll come up with the goods. That’s a producer right there. That’s a talent." [63]

"What impressed me most? Her stamina, dedication and perfection. Her precision and respect for her body and the craft. What an icon! What a role model for women! I bow down to the one I truly serve!!" [64]

"Her work ethic is very infectious in the studio. I was kind like, man, I'm too slow. She's a workhorse. I'm just a fan. I'm basically just a fan who, like, tricked Madonna."[65]

"She's a very talented lady, There are definitely moments when I think, wow, I'm singing with Madonna. But she's so cool. She's very clever, very innovative. I was humbled working with her. She's fun to work with and she takes advice. Plus she has an amazing mind." [66]

"There’s only one Madonna. It was amazing. I’m still trying to figure out if she knew we were there, cause I was just constantly staring at her. I became like the weird stalker in the corner!" [67]

"The world is full of Madonna wannabes. I might have even dated a couple. But there truly is only one Madonna. Though I’m pretty sure Little Richard would disagree, the truth is that nobody has ever gotten into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame while still looking this damn fine." [69]

"People always ask if she is the control freak people say she is. Hell yeah! We had a recording session in London and I wasn't feeling well. She said: 'Would you like a B12 shot?' She reached into her handbag, pulled a zip-lock bag of B12 syringes and says: 'Drop 'em.' I don't know what you say to that, so I dropped my pants. She gave me the shot in my ass and then she looks at me and she says, 'Nice top shelf.' It was one of the greatest days of my life. That is what Madonna will always be to us. The shot in the ass when we really need it." [70]

"She has this ability to have you in the palm of her hand again. I went to see her last year in the Confessions on a Dance Floor and it was brilliant, it was really inspiring."

"I think the thing that Madonna does, which I hope I can do, is that she has this ability to come across as quite austere at the beginning …not cold exactly but a little detached. But at the end of it she looks like she’s having a great time - she’s dancing, and you’re dancing, and it’s all great. I think that’s really clever how she gets that dynamic to work. You always feel at the end of it that you’ve somehow won her over. I don’t know, that’s a real…you know what I mean? Not everyone has that."

Susanna Hoffs: "I think she's really great. I respect and admire her and think she's really talented." (From the book "Madonna talking" by Mick St. Michael).

"Madonna is a funny person, respectful and collaborative. I've been aware for a year that Madonna was a Gogol Bordello fan and in the end, we met trough mutual friends and we spoke a lot."

"I think she was very good and most of all she was scrupulous, that's something I think it's essential for a director. She knew what she wanted and she gave me total creative freedom, so for me it was an incredible experience." [81]

Marc Almond: "It was a hell-hole. There were prostitutes upstairs, junkies downstairs and it was a bare room with a bed, nylon sheets, and a kitchenette with dirty plates and a lamp. I’ve always felt ashamed she stayed in such a pit. If I’d known in 1983 how big she’d become, I'd have cut up the sheets and sold them on ebay." [82][83]

Tom Meighan: "Ooh, Madonna’s thighs! She reminds me of my old dance teacher, who I used to have a crush on. Who didn’t have a huge crush on Madonna when they were a kid? "I’d marry her. If she came for me, I really would." [84]

Don McLean: "Madonna is a colossus in the music industry and she is going to be considered an important historical figure as well. She is a fine singer, a fine songwriter and record producer, and she has the power to guarantee success with any song she chooses to record. It is a gift for her to have recorded 'American Pie.'I have heard her version and I think it is sensual and mystical. I also feel that she's chosen autobiographical verses that reflect her career and personal history. I hope it will cause people to ask what's happening to music in America. I have received many gifts from God but this is the first time I have ever received a gift from a goddess." [85]

Peter Hook: "Madonna's like a Black Widow spider. She tends to use people, then they shrivel up and disappear. She sat there with her back to us, and Rob went up and said, 'We were wondering if you wanted to appear later at the club', and she just went, 'Fuck off.'" [86]

Steve Bray: "If people feel exploited by Madonna - that's resentment of someone who's got drive. It seems like you're leaving people behind or you're stepping on them, and the fact is you're moving and they're not... Madonna doesn't care if she ruffles someone's feathers." [87]

Pet Shop Boys: "Madonna always looks ahead, both for looks and sounds, just like we do." [88]

Fran Healy: "I had a massive crush on Madonna when I was a kid, I mean it was huge. It was worrying. I just thought she was amazing." [89]

Dave Grohl: "...It could be Madonna, if she wants to come do a couple of shots of Jagermeister with her friend Dave she's more than welcome to come into the room and I'll pour her some chilli shots of whisky, it'll be great!" [90]

Kim Gordon: "She's strong, beautiful and a manipulator. Qualities which makes her to write great songs." [91]

Stephen Malkmus: "She doesn't seem to run out of ideas, does she. I used to love her when I was 14 or so. I had a regular crush on her. I couldn't swear if it was her music that fascinated me, or the generous cleavage. But yeah, she was hot." [92].

Natasha Bedingfield: "I have so much respect for Madonna after learning how hard it is to sing ["Ray of Light"]. She has an amazing voice - the range you need to sing the song is incredible." [94]

Annie Lennox: "Lo and behold, Madonna's track came back and she'd sung the second verse, which was a huge bonus. I was really touched - for Madonna is very rigorous in what she gets involved in and for her to do that for me, I was thrilled to bits." [95].

Ludacris: "Madonna was so low key and so incognito that I hardly noticed her, and when I did it kinda caught me by storm. But honestly speaking, she's a really down to earth, really cool individual. I'm glad I got a chance to meet her – rub some of that energy off!" [96]

Fergie: "Oh MADONNA! You know, I saw her after her concert and I wanted to give her some positive words but I didn't want to talk too much to her because I understand what it feels like after a show when there's a lot of people in the room who want to see you. I wanted to give her some kind words but I didn't want to take up her time. I really wanted to ask her some more questions but I doubt it would have been as exciting for her as it was for me! But if I ever got the chance to sit down with her I think I'd want to ask her some advice questions and I would love to collaborate with her. That would be amazing." [97]

"Pat knew our voices were going to be really good together so he asked us to do the bridge together and we started. She turned her back on me and at one point turned around and was like: “Why aren’t you singing?” and I told her I was and Pat then told her that I was singing and that our voices were in harmony. She then said: “Will you sing on all my records then….” And I was just standing there wondering if I had the job. I got it!" (About auditioning for Madonna).

"I’ve learned so much from working with her – the power aspect about how to use what you have is an amazing thing. I learn more stuff about myself as I go along."

"When I first started working with her I just wanted to be like her – I think I misinterpreted a lot of things. The fame. I just tried to be like her and didn’t do things my own way. It was funny looking back on it."

"Madonna gave me some great advice about my own career and really helped me to go for what I wanted to do – not what a record company told me. She always said I could do it."

"Madonna wants to make people be a better person now. In the old days it was about her and nothing else – just like I was. We were all self centered. You have to be like that and take those steps to be a better person later down the line. To me you have to grow as you work your way through your life – that’s why we are here. It’s amazing that she can come from that sort of place where she started to being a humanitarian like she is now. Coming from just wanting to be famous and be adored by everything to wanting to love everybody. She’s incredible. It’s a complete turnaround. She wanted to be served by everyone and now she’s serving everyone."

Mika: "Believe me, if I got asked to work with her, I certainly wouldn’t turn it down. Of all the women I’m fascinated by, she’s certainly up there." [103]

"Madonna is one of the kindest and most reasonable people you could hope to meet." [104]

"She's the perfect guest - but she did spill coffee on my white carpet by knocking a mug off a keyboard. I was amazed at just how well, using only a kitchen towel, she could draw the coffee out of the white carpet. The technique she had was to never rub, just to gently pad the carpet with the kitchen towel." [105]

"You don't produce Madonna, you collaborate with her. She's a really good producer herself and obviously a great writer too. I've never worked with anyone before who is as genuine and as hands on as an artist as Madonna is. She's has her vision and knows how to get it. What's interesting with this one is that she's picked a DJ to make dance tunes for her to make songs, which is exactly what she's been doing since 1983 - hanging out with DJ's and making records." [106]

Ciara: "She's a tough lady! She's a megastar, and that [media scrutiny] goes with the territory, But she's definitely put her foot down as a woman over the years and she's proven to be one of the best to me." [107]

Ashanti: "Yeah, Madonna is ill. All the clamps and chains people had on what women can and cannot do — she just broke them. And I really wasn’t up on Madonna until my cousin — who’s six years older than me and my favorite relative on the planet; we’re more like sisters — when I was eight or nine I said, ‘Why you got these posters of that white lady all over your room?’ She’s like, ‘This is Madonna!’" [108]

Pharrell: "She's a little baby tiger cub on the inside but outside she's as tough as anything. Once you are fighting with her you can't let your guard down, she'd beat your ass to a pulp. She could definetely beat me up. But you know, making Madonna cry has just cemented our relationship. We're tight now. Seriously tight. She's probably the best person I've ever collaborated with." (Manchester Free Magazine) [109]

Danja: "She was cool. She had a dark sense of humor that I can’t explain. She might just say something crazy that you might feel is out of line. But it’s not. It’s just her sense of humor. She was in the studio chilling with us, being open and the whole nine." [110].

Eric West: "A lot of people make her out to be arrogant, and not fan friendly, but I can say otherwise, for such a superstar, she makes you feel as if you’re talking to an old friend." [111]

"I met Madonna and that was pretty wild. Most everybody I've met is pretty cool and on the level, but Madonna is just legendary. I was definitely the most starstruck with her. I've been a fan of hers since I was a kid. So that's definitely part of the intimidation factor. [112]

I really want to work with Madonna. It doesn't seem like a likely pairing, maybe, but I just think that she is so creative and has such vision and her career has been so long because she has been able to come up with something new and keep people guessing and push people's buttons. I like that she's relevant, she's always the next thing, she's always introducing us to the next wave of pop. I just think it would be an honor to work with her." [113]

"[Madonna] was incredible. I was a bit intimidated, but she was very, very warm. She gave me some advice on how to deal with the fame and the craziness. She said, 'You know, just keep your eye on the prize. Remember what it is that you want to accomplish. And try to ignore all the other crap'." [114]

"...Some people freak out. And I'm like, why are you freaking out? I don't get that mentality. I've never felt like that about a celebrity before — except maybe Madonna. When I met Madonna my heart was racing. That's my one experience being star-struck. And I told her, 'I'm freaking out.' And she said, 'Why?' And I said, 'Because you're fucking Madonna.'" [115]

Tracy Chapman: "I was trying to make a case for Madonna the other day, saying that she's to be admired for her longevity in a genre that has mostly been for younger acts. Men are able to sustain a career into their 50s and 60s and still present themselves as sex symbols. With women on the other hand, people say, 'Why doesn't she retire?' It's just so unfair. So I have to give props to Madonna." [116]

Kim Wilde: "I had the top of the charts two years before Madonna came on the scene and stole my thunder. I remember seeing her and thinking, 'Here's trouble'! I'd be lying if I said it didn't get to me, but I never disliked her. And I look at her now and think she's amazing. When I started doing yoga, I was inspired to look after my body. Now I love going for long walks, eating healthily and working out with a trainer." [118]

"I see her at gym quite often. We talk about which aerobics teachers are best. I think I have hyper-gymnasium but she works out much more than I do." [119]

"I struggled with jealousy when Madonna released her great song 'Papa Don't Preach.' From her True Blue album, it was an instant hit that took radio by storm and soared to number one. But my problem was with Madonna herself, not the music. I looked at her body and thought, 'Oh my God, she looks phenomenal and it's because she's skinnier than me. I have to get that skinny." Lips Unsealed

"Having been a fan of Madonna since I was a little girl, I'm very excited about sharing a stage with her and playing to her audiences…I'm thrilled." [120]

"I got a chance to go on tour with Madonna in Europe and like any one who's been a fan of her since the age of ten I was super exited. When I met her at the end of the tour she was really cool and natural. I got a chance to thank her for putting me on and she even told me she was a fan! It was a very special moment I will never forget. She's an icon and a pioneer, but only Madonna can be Madonna. It would be sad to try to copy her model. Times are different nowadays as well. Even if I tried, it would be hard to build what she has achieved in the climate of the music industry today. I learned that next to the president of the United States of America, Madonna must be the most famous person on earth whose every little move is watched by millions and a complete security state is surrounding her! Watching her on stage during the tour I could tell that she was really enjoying herself. She is probably doing exactly what she wants to do and that´s why she is so inspiring. I want to be like that as well, I want to be myself." (About the experience of being on tour with Madonna on her Sticky and sweet tour) [121]

"If you look into Madonna's eyes - or Whitney Houston's when she was at her peak - you see something there that other people haven't got. It's a steel, a sense of 'I am going to do it, whatever happens'. It's not necessarily a good character trait to have, but if you are going to make it in this business, you need it." [122]

"When I look at the people who come into the X Factor auditions, what I’m looking for possibly even more than vocal talent is that work ethic. I always look at the eyes, because I can tell everything in a person’s eyes. If you look at Madonna’s eyes you can see steel. Look at anyone right at the top of their game and you’ll see the same steel." [123].

"Of course I'd have Madonna's. She is the ultimate in female pop music, and she's like the Energizer bunny. Plus, she's got years on me and she looks my age still. She must have sacrificed something or sold her soul in exchange for continuing to be a world dominator in all things pop culture." (When asked if she could have any musician's career other than her own, whose would it be.) [124]

"It was insane. I freaked out. My eyes swelled up with fluid, with tears, but I didn't cry. I was just very excited." (About when she heard that Madonna is a fan of her track 'Ur So Gay') [125]

"Madonna invited me to one of her shows - I was summoned by the queen herself. I went backstage and I am never usually nervous but I lost it. I got so weak in the knees and I thought I was going to throw up. But I needn't have worried. She was cool. She was so petite. She comes up to my chest and I thought she was supposed to be a giant." [126]

Randy Newman: "I once had dinner with Madonna and I wasn't nervous but within about a minute I found myself talking about underwear." [127].

"Madonna has always been a great icon for me. I felt I could relate to her. She took about five years to get to the point I'm at. I admire her determination and she challenges people as well, which can change our culture." [128]

"I read every biography on Madonna. It wasn’t just about getting tips. I felt connected with Madonna from a very young age. I think I share a lot of qualities from her personality. I really respect her." [129]

"Madonna is the sexiest woman in the world – it’s her confidence and as she gets older she seems to get sexier." [130]

"I’d have to say it’s Madonna. She’s done a very good job of reinventing herself time and again. She’s been able to stand the test of time with every record, and she’s a new person every decade. That’s what I aspire to." (When asked who's the person he looks up to in terms of plotting out your career). [131]

Craig David: "Madonna is still sexy and cool. She’s had such an amazing career and has always been able to re-invent herself time and time again, and it’d be fascinating to chat to her about that over a couple of drinks." [132]

Bette Midler: "She has pulled herself up by her own bra-straps... and has been known to let them down occasionally". [133]

Carole King: "I think Madonna has a great deal of intelligence and capability. I have a lot of respect for her. She's taken her career and maximized it with intelligence and creativity." [134].

Matthew Bellamy: "Ambition - whenever I hear the word, in my head, all I can think of is Madonna, for some reason. Very ambitious person and a great artist, certainly explores many avenues to get her name out there. I think she’s a very special lady." [135]

"Madonna was great to work with because — I never really understood her mystique although I always liked her music. We met in New York, had dinner to discuss the album. And there was something so intoxicating about her. We were just the two of us at dinner and I was looking at her going, ‘Wow, she totally sucks you into her world. It’s like there’s nobody else in the restaurant.’ She had a great work ethic. A lot of artists, they want to be co producers just because they can. She wanted to be a co producer, but she earned it. She really knows her way around a studio. She works hard." [136]

"Working with Madonna was an amazing experience for me. She is such a professional, always on time, her work ethic is unbelievable. I had a great time with her." [137]

"She's amazing. All her songs are so great. They’re so well crafted and really perfect, pure, pop genius. I'm a big fan of "Papa Don't Preach." I love that song. But really all of it is fantastic. She was the one who did it all first. She gave people like me an avenue to do what I'm doing. She was the one who started all the controversy to begin with."

"She was very down to earth. It was nice to see after all her success, she's still very grounded. It was cool to see her interaction with Lourdes. She's a cool mom. She shot a couple of the photographs herself at the end. She definitely has a vision and was very hands-on. It was really easy working with her. She's very comfortable to be around — very professional but a lot of fun."

"Once I discovered pirate radio, that’s what I grew up on. I was listening to Madonna and Paula Abdul and then I heard Public Enemy and Roxanne Shante. It was like, “Woah, what’s going on?” That really blew my mind. Then hearing Jamaican pirate radio—that was really exciting. Hearing Supercat and Mad Cobra seemed really amazing to me." [139]

"Madonna is the one. Madonna did amazing songs. She had an amazing sense of style, without a stylist. And she was flawed, and sometimes she admitted it. I’ll fight the fight for Madonna. [141]

"Everybody was giving me Madonna records and then everyone was like you should listen to this and try and dress like it and I just never looked like Madonna because I was brown. So I decided to dress like Chuck D instead." [142]

"...The first house we stayed in and I watched 'Top of the Pops' and it was like- woah! It was the first music show that I saw on TV. I saw Madonna, Whitney Houston. It was amazing." [143]

"There'd be no Gaga without Madonna so let's put it in fucking perspective…"

"...Madge was doing that when I was doing it, you know? I saw Madonna outside the Music Machine before she even made it. I was doing a gig with the band in like '79. There was this chick outside from New York going 'I'm going to be a star' and it was her! And she's got some fucking balls you know?"

"She's done as much as Dietrich did for fucking Hollywood stars. She's gone in and said 'Alright. I've been raped. Someone fucking stuck his dick in my gob in a back alley. I got up from that and I went in there and I had a big fight. And I won.' She fucking won, good luck to the woman."

Jessica Simpson: "I think people are ready to hear something that Madonna used to do. We all need to hear that every now and again. It wasn't a sample or something I meant to do, but she did influence me and still does today. I hope to have the longevity of her career."[145].

"It’s hard to pick a favorite. [But] I would have to say Madonna. She is someone I really admire, look up to musically and career-wise. Every choice Madonna has made is mind-blowing to me". [when asked who's her favorite artist to work with]

"It was symbolic in some ways. I am in a field where you hear “No” a lot, especially because of my gender. So when Madonna and I started working together, it was like, “Yeah, I did it.” And her wedding was an honor to perform at because I felt like she trusted me [with] one of the biggest days of her life. I was completely honored and, to be honest, really nervous". [about DJing at Madonna's wedding]

Christian Thielemann: "I find this woman fascinating. Not just musically... I’d like to get to know Madonna a whole lot better." [147].

John Benitez: "My first impression on meeting Madonna? I thought she had a lot of style. And she crossed over a lot of boundaries 'cos everyone in the rock clubs played her, the black clubs, the gay, the straight... and very few records have that appeal." [148].

Kurt Cobain: "In a way I respect Madonna for the things she introduced because she introduced some subversive things and it has nothing to do with sex as far as I'm concern, I'm talking about the introduction to the vogue dance which originated in the gay clubs in 80', and she was always supportive of stuff like that which I think is really cool." [149]

Shirley Manson: "I turned round and it's Madonna, and I'm thinking, 'Fucking hell, it's Madonna!' But I say 'hi' and she grabs my hand and she gives me the famous blink and says, 'I think you're amazing' in that tiny voice she has. And I'm thinking, 'OK, try and be cool, this is possibly the biggest pop icon of our life, be cool'. I tried to say something even remotely understandable and instead just garbled my words. I had high heels on and I hardly ever wear high heels, and I lurched towards her, and I could see the alarm on her face, thinking 'who the hell is this?' And I lurched off flustered without even saying goodbye. I always blow my big moments" [150].

Kelly Osbourne: "I've always been a huge, huge, huge fan of Madonna, but it completely changed my whole opinion of her -- made me like her even more once I met Lola because she's done a fantastic job with her. Madonna is one of my idols and my first single I ever released was a cover of 'Papa Don't Preach.' To have it come full circle -- now I'm actually doing something with her and her daughter -- it's just kind of like... ahhh!"" [151]

"She's the Queen, super theatrical and dramatic on stage, just like Pop Opera. And Madonna...I mean who can really mess with Madonna? Nobody! No, her stage, her videos are always amazing, and her visuals. It's about more than just the music. It's about the passion, it's about the whole package." [152]

"There is really no one that is a more adoring and loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan personally and professionally." [153]

"Madonna is the queen. I have so much and adoration for her. Being compared to her is unbelievably flattering, but in truth there is no one that can compare with Madonna. She is the queen!"[154].

Paul Oakenfold: "Madonna was without doubt one of the best artists I have ever worked with. She had so many fantastic ideas and really took her music seriously. You can tell that with Madonna, everything is about the music. She's a global name but still works tirelessly in the studio, puts on her best possible live gigs and puts 100 per cent into everything she does. "She's really grounded too and easy to work with." [155]

Marlene Dietrich: "I played vulgar, she is vulgar." (Marlene refused to meet Madonna, who wanted to remake The Blue Angel in the 80s.) [2]

Ashton Kutcher: "Madonna has a project in Malawi where she has genuinely affected the lives of about 250,000 children who are orphaned. I think that's a pretty generous person, not someone who should be criticized. That sort of generosity is pretty admirable." [157]

"THAT LADY. I was never a fan. I saw her in that silly Lucky Star video in the early days of MTV, and I knew I would be reunited with my mother/ lover/ teacher/ friend/ bitch/ cheater/ liar/ goddess/ student/ poetess/ angel/ pain/ tears/ broken-heart/ inspiration/ intrigue/ and human awe. We fell hard immediately too much, too soon for the both of us. In the end, when you love something, let it go."

"Madonna as a talent? Superior to all; she is a classic. I wish she would sing the standards. That is what her voice is made for. When she would sing around the house, I would close my eyes and melt. I was so privileged to be there."

"She never knew how I really felt with her, and to put all the stories straight, those unauthorized biographies are all full of lies. You dummies, don't buy it. I was not her toy-boy, or a gift to her from her brother. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I love you always, lady."

Susan Sarandon: "The history of women in popular music can, pretty much, be divided into before and after Madonna." [159].

George Clooney: "She's probably everybody's high watermark about learning how to reinvent yourself every few years and continue to stay alive. She without a question the absolute best at that. And she's nice, I like her; she's a friend. She's seems to handle things really well; people can be really tough on you on & off at times and she seems very good at handling it." [160]

Warren Baetty: "Madonna is simultaneously touching and more fun than a barrel of monkeys. She's funny and she's gifted in so many areas and has the kind of energy as a performer that can't help but make you engaged." [161]

Ethan Hawke: "She transcended being a pop star. She drew international attention and shone the spotlight on a level of racism and the need for greater education." [162]

Dita Von Teese: "Madonna is the only modern celebrity who is truly a style icon. Who else has the audacity to dress like her these days? She really influenced how I wanted to look when I was growing up, and made me realize that I didn’t have to look like a blond beach bunny or a Playboy model." [163]

Esther Rantzen: "I get surprised by the venom that I hear expressed about Kabbalah. I think part of it is Madonna-envy." [164]

Tom Hardy: "When we had a break Guy asked if I'd like to meet the wife as she was in the car park and he knew I was a fan. So off we trotted. To be honest, I had the shock of my life. There she was in the back of her Range Rover administering a shot of B12 into the arse of Gerald Butler. Believe me. I was completely stunned to be quite honest, stunned - I mean to throw open the door and see that... I knew it would be magnificent to meet her because she's cult - I mean like Elvis - but the last thing I expected to see was her giving Gerard a shot in his bare arse because he wasn't very well. She does it for her dancers, she's trained doing it, so she decided to do it for the actors as well. She was so cool. She just said to Gerard, 'There you go - bosh! That does it.' And while she was doing that she was talking to me about a load of books I should be reading. I was really thrown." [165][166]

Gerard Butler: "She was awesome. She was very, very cool. She played a bit of nurse to me, because I got sick in the middle of the film. She turned up with all these medications. In fact, the first day I met her, she was like, 'So you're the sick one. Take this, take this, take this.' The infection was in my throat and chest and I was really run down. Madonna thought the whole thing out and helped me get better." [167].

Benjamin Bratt: "Madonna is one of the only people in the world that can make a straight woman become gay, or a gay man become straight." [168].

David Tennant: "She's quite extraordinary. When I was 14, the first single I ever bought was "Like a Virgin". She was kind of my sexual awakening. I had some full-on posters of her on my wall. I don't know what my parents thought. She still looks damn fit." [169]

Miley Cyrus: "Madonna always reinvents herself, and that's what I want to do. Whatever comes my way that sounds good, that's what I want to do. Whether it's designing clothes or photography or whatever." [170]

Dakota Fanning: "I got to meet her one time and she’s so beautiful in person. I’ve never seen her in concert but I would love to, on her tour. But she’s amazing and I hope that she goes for many, many more years." [171].

Hilary Duff: "Oh, [I'm] definitely [a fan]. I grew up listening to Madonna. It feels surreal getting to do a cover of "Material Girl". It’s such a great dance song." [172]

"I admire Madonna. she has so much energy and it's very inspiring to watch someone like that. I have her Confessions album playing a lot in my dressing room, you know, singing and rolling my arms to Hung Up gets me in the mood to go shout at people as Patty Hewes." [173]

"The album that I have probably played to death though is Madonna Confessions on a Dance Floor, its just such a joyful album for me all the way through you know…genius, I love it and I think she is a... remarkable person, a strong woman and that's empowering." [174].

Susan Seidelman: "She is an incredibly disciplined person. During the shoot [of Desperately Seeking Susan] we'd often get home at 11 or 12 at night and have to be back on the set by 6 or 7 the next morning. Half the time the driver would pick Madonna up at her health club. She'd get up at 4:30 in the morning to work out first." [175].

Andy Bird:

"She wasn't at all Madonna-ish, in a predatory way. She was warm and affectionate and womanly. She's really very normal: a lovely, traditional, sweet person"

"We were holding hands, she was taking my arm, pretty much from the outset. It all seemed very natural. I'm a romantic anyway, and she's got a very big heart." [176]

"I used to joke with my friends, 'What do you buy the woman who has everything?' but she was actually really easy to buy presents for. She was always really gracious when she received gifts."

"She could wear the tattiest pair of jeans and still look good in them. Often she'd walk round the house in just a Hennes vest and look fantastic. She once said to me if she didn't do what she did, she would love to have been in fashion journalism. She is very creative." [177]

"She's certainly not one for regrets, She's very forward-looking and positive, as you can see from what she's achieved in her life." [178].

Trudie Styler: "Oh, God! Yes, I had a sense that they'd really like each other and really complement each other and I think they do - they're fantastic parents, and they sparkle when they're together. But I'm not a kiss and tell!" [179]

Ricki Lake: "I love that Madonna adopted this baby and has brought so much attention to Malawi. She's my hero." [180].

Emanuela Rossi: "I'm a big fan of Madonna, I love her music a lot. I like her persona, her ways to reinvent herself, not being the same all the time. I think it's vital and creative for an artist to look for new ways, new looks, different ways to sing but at the same time keeping those qualities that make you unique. Madonna is also a controversial artist that tends to amaze people in every possible way and the same time I think she's a very authentic person. She looks very visceral to me, also in her quests. She has become quite sophisticated over the years but she stays true to herself and still capable to push people's buttons. I think that's the key of her success." [181]

"When you don't have a mother, you do everything in your power to be a good mother; it's like the goal of your life. And I think she succeeding, definitely do." [VH1 Behind The Music]

Will Smith: "Madonna is in really good shape. I actually get a sexy chill every time I think about Madonna." [182]

Al Pacino: "She was doing a dance and she was naked under her coat. Over the course of the dance, she became inspired and opened her coat, and there she was. She has an extraordinarily beautiful body, like cut out of ivory. One day, when I'm old and I'm wheeled out on my porch wrapped in a blanket, if I have a beatific smile on my face, I'll probably be thinking of that." [183][184]

Sophia Loren: "She was charming and very respectful to me, but you know, she looked very lonely." [185]

"At 18 I sniffed poppers with Hardy Amies, danced at a nightclub with Rudolf Nureyev and dined in Paris with Andy Warhol and Bianca Jagger. I knew what it was to be drunk on fame by association. Yet everything was a pale imitation of the impact Madonna made on me. We met by chance."

"When I first met Madonna she really was one of the only women that whether you were gay or straight or an animal she demanded a sexual response some how, something inside her and everybody was turned on by her, everybody!"

"She was raucous but poised, elegant but common. She had the cupid-bow lips of a silent screen star, and it was obvious that she was playing with Sean underneath the table throughout the meal."

"She was tiny and luscious with long auburn hair, slightly curled. She sat down. Sean’s forget-me-not eyes watered with adoration. Hers were the palest blue, strangely wide-set, any further and she would look insane, or inbred. When they looked in your direction, you froze."

"In no way was she conventionally beautiful. She was a bit like a Picasso. When she fixed you with her regard, there was a tenderness and warmth that made your skin bump, but when she looked away, it was like sunbathing on a cold day and suddenly a cloud comes."

"She was mesmerizing. She oozed sex and demanded a sexual response from everyone. It didn’t matter if you were gay. You were swept up all the same. In those early years there was no male who would not want to bed her."

"...I lost myself in Madonna’s attention and by the end I had fallen in love."

"She's like an older sister. Everything I have gone through, she went through ten times worse and ten times longer. She gives me good advice about how to say no and take care of myself." [188]

"She’s always been committed to helping. In a big picture way, she’s the most generous person in the world and she’s always thinking about how she can help. Malawi’s become very close to her heart, obviously as her son is from Malawi, and she’s spent a lot of time and dedication doing what she can." [189]

"Madonna Ciccone rules the world, is a loyal friend and a terrific mother." [190]

"She's a great woman. She's got a lot of wisdom. We just have fun together. She works on herself harder than anybody else I've met. We do share that and we're both public women. We are both perfectionists." [191]

Helen Mirren: "The thing that was imposed on me from the outside was crude and vulgar and distressful to me, and disturbing - that big tits, blonde hair, Diana Dors, blowsy kind of thing. (But) I think Madonna got it right. Madonna claimed it for herself, and I've always admired her for that. I loved that 'Sex' book she did. I thought it was fantastic, because it was a big two fingers up, 'This is my sexuality, it's not what you put on me, it's mine'." [192]

Ricky Gervais: "The Mercer. It's just nice. Really cool. I turned up there last time, and there were about 20 paparazzi going, 'Ricky,' 'Ricky,' 'Ricky.' And I said, 'What are you doin' here?' 'We're here to see you.' I said, 'What [are] you really here for?' And they went, 'Madonna.' They were nice, but I knew the truth. Why would they be there for me?" [193].

Anthony LaPaglia: "I jokingly refer to Madonna being my template in making my decisions, because she’s the best at reinventing herself. Every two years she reinvents herself. [That's why] she still is where she is after 20 years. I think that that’s a smart thing." [194]

Charlotte Gainsbourg: "Madonna was incredibly quick and professional. I was unable to say anything else than 'Hello','I’ll listen to it' and 'Good-bye' [when she asked to use a few lines from "The Cement Garden" for her song, "What it Feels Like for a Girl"]. That was incredibly stupid of me. Madonna was the idol of my youth and I grew up listening to her music." [195]

"She was very exact and particular about what she wanted as a director and she was very impressive."[196]

"She is somebody who is so determined to stretch in every direction and I really admire that. Believe me, the number of directors that I have worked with who don't have half her ability makes me believe she has a real talent."[197].

Alan Parker: "She worked out her moves in the mirror the night before we’d shoot. She would work so hard. She was not someone who went out clubbing every night. She was the one who said, ‘I want to be there at 5.30 in the morning so I have enough time to get the hair and make-up right.’ So before the crew had even arrived, she would be there. By the time she arrived at the set she was smiling and she did her job. And she did her job brilliantly." [198].

"She would show up and she’d have already run eight miles. And then they’d do the practice and she’d stay after another hour and hit. Her work ethic is fantastic."

"I like her a lot. I saw her about five years ago, and I told her, “I feel like my career started with you, and I have a fond place for you in my heart.” And mine did start with her. The first thing I ever did was with her. And she goes, “I know, I feel the same way about you."

Susan seidelman: "She's the kind of person that really does get up at five in the morning to go swimming. She wasn't at all prima donna-ish. She wasn't one of those people that want to be alone and sit in their trailer the whole time. I think she has much more of a sense of humor that people give her credit for. Too many people take that femme fetale stuff at face value." [200].

"Madonna's probably the most disciplined person around and so I can only pale in comparison. It's just too impressive." [201]

"Madonna, she is a strong woman, I met her before her show in New York in 2004, she was amazing, very friendly and super cool, that show was awesome, she is a true icon, had to hold myself back from really stalking her. I so wish we could have got her on the show [Sex & The city], she would have been amazing, as for her acting ability, her presence on screen is just mesmerizing, check out her Vogue, Rain and Bad Girl video's, these are some of my favourite Madonna songs and the videos are amazing." (When asked if there's anybody she admires) [202].

"For the first time I saw Madonna when she first came out and she was on television talking and singing songs about her mother and how her mother had passed and how sad she was. And it dawned on me 'oh that's what happened to me, my mother died'. And it makes you terribly sad and that's why I'm so unhappy and it's okay to talk about it and it's okay to grieve and I should be sad and I should be upset and I should be allowed to go through these things. So I did go through that process because of Madonna, because I saw her talking about it and singing about it, I was able to understand what happened to me and work through it and use my experiences in my favour to give me a lot of what I draw from when I act." [203]

"She's the only person I've ever approached - she had such an impact on my life as a kid. She lost her mother too and came on MTV when I was 13 saying it was OK to be sad. Our family had handled my mother's death in a traditional, never-speak-of-her-again kind of way. It was only when I heard Madonna that I thought, 'That's it. I've never really grieved for my mother.' She gave me permission to do that and I wanted her to know how much it had helped me. She's just fantastic." [204]

Kelly Ripa: "I think she's used to people gushing over her and all of that, but I think she quickly sort of came to realize that yes, in fact I do go to every concert. The last concert she did, we made eye contact. Okay, in my mind it was eye contact. Madonna has no recollection, but I know she stared at me. There's something about her. I think she's very clever and witty. She's really funny. She's really down to earth when she's here. And I just love that about her. And I love looking at her because she's a physical specimen. [205].

"We’ve always been friends. Our friendship has always been very deep and... We get into it! We’re both Leo’s, we’re both born in August. But, in terms of being friends, we keep it real." [206]

Alicia Silverstone: "I'd die if I was Madonna. I'd die. God, what a horrible way to live. And Michael Jackson! To be so famous and to feel so isolated. I feel so bad for them. I don't know how it feels, and I hope it never happens to me." [207].

Mike Myers: "It was terrifying, It was like kissing the Eiffel Tower in terms of how famous she is." [about making out with Madonna for tv skit] [208]

Pedro Almodóvar: "When she came with her Blond Ambition tour I prepared a dinner for her, and that little thief didn’t tell us that everything she was recording was going to be part of her film. Madonna was asking for Antonio Banderas’ phone number all the time, because she wanted to screw him and I never gave it to her. When she went out jogging she always had her six bodyguards and I told her: 'Madonna, babe, this kind of things are not very attractive here in Spain.' In this country, that thing about bodyguards is like an offense, nobody is going to shoot Madonna or whoever in Spain. But in United States bodyguards seem to be, like a part of the body of the star. She asked me if I didn’t have bodyguards and I said 'I would only have them to fuck them'." [209]

"I’ve always said that Madonna has gotten a bad rap. She was the only actor who knew what she was doing in ‘Dick Tracy’. She was my favorite in ‘A League of Their Own’. If I had something right for her, I would totally cast her." [210]

Rachel Weisz: "I think Madonna’s amazing. She constantly reinvents herself and I just went to see her art show in New York the other day and that was great." [212]

Rex Lee: "Remember when Madonna was first on American Bandstand and she told Dick Clark she wanted to rule the world? Well I don't want to rule the world, but I want to make my mark on the world... You know what? I'm lying. I do want to rule the world." [213]

Michael C. Hall: "I caught Madonna live in Miami last year. It was a kick ass show; truly amazing. Her stage presence left me speechless, I just loved it." [215].

Tim Vincent: "I get to meet some very, very beautiful ladies through my job. Madonna is very sexy and she really flirted with me, which was amazing." [216]

Rosanna Arquette: "It suddenly just exploded overnight; you know, she was everywhere. And they started kind of rewriting the script for that, to tailor-make it for her in those moments. And here she is, still at it. She's 50 years old – almost 50 and rocking on. I think that's great." [217]

Denise Richards: "You feel lazy watching her because you gotta get off your butt and just work, [She] is really an inspiration for everyone." [218]

Anthea Turner: "I've got a huge amount of respect for Madonna - she's often labeled a control freak but she's just a perfectionist. There's a difference between looking tacky and artistic, and I think Madonna looks incredible. You can celebrate your body whatever age you are - there's no limit." [219].

Nathan Rissman: It was amazing working with Madonna. She does everything 100 per cent, and so to be involved in what she was doing, for her to let me go forward and make this project was amazing. She's been involved creatively on every aspect. She knows pictures, she knows sound, she's really, really good. The most memorable thing about working with Madonna is seeing her in the village - seeing her really letting go of that celebrity status, really spending time with people, getting her feet dirty, and dancing, singing and crying with people. It was amazing to see her take on that new character. Madonna really wanted to bring some awareness to Malawi, and she really believed in me. [220]

Malin Akerman: "I got ice cream cones and put them on my boobs. I wanted to be just like her." [221]

Michael Parkinson: "She turned out to be so bright, frank and funny it made you wonder what the previous debate had been about. Hers is an extraordinary story of determination and hard work and the perfect antidote to the celebrity pap fed to today's wannabes. Anyone wanting to succeed in the music business, or indeed any other business, should watch the interview and learn what it really takes to get to the top." [226].

Stephen Jon Lewicki: "That woman has more sensuality in her ear than most women have anywhere on their bodies." [227].

"If we had a royal system she'd be the queen of Michigan and all the Michiganders would Bow down to her, and I'm not kidding. She's a person with a good heart; she does a lot of good for other people. I really admire her." (From E! News).

"She spent the past couple of years filming what the people go through, and the efforts to help them, I saw the film about a month ago. It's a fantastic, powerful movie." (About the film I Am Because We Are)

"She's sort of entered my realm. When I saw it [I Am Because We Are], I thought, 'Wow, it's like she's been making these films for years." [229]

"[She's] one of the smartest people I know." [I'm] humbled to be able to call Madonna a friend. She has such an incredible heart and such a generous spirit. She does so much out of the glare of the lights to make the world a better place."

"She's just a lovely woman. My first experience of her was a very nice cup of Earl Grey in a living room in her house. That's how we talked about doing something together and it was really artistically a very complicit relationship throughout."

"Madonna has an infectious passion for all sorts of things and she's very worldly. She has a real wisdom." [232]

"You may think you know somebody like that. But of course you never really know them until you actually meet them. And she is absolutely wonderful. She is so strong. She is such an endless inspiration." [233].

Natalie Dormer: "Madonna is a woman of great vision and passion and focus - she is a force to be reckoned with, as you would imagine and she has a brilliant eye." [234]

Christoph Waltz: "It was fantastic (partying with Madonna). Everyone was there. I fought my way through because I mean, this is the hostess, the least I can do is thank her for the invitation. It was difficult, it took me about an hour and a half... In the end, I got there, and apparently I was standing right in front of her. You know, I looked for Madonna and there was this chick dancing, 'Where's Madonna?' (pointing at the girl). That was her, she was dancing like... I thought she was, you know, 23-24." [235]

Bert Stern: "Madonna is gorgeous, the most beautiful eyes you ever saw. A little rough around the edges. She's a tough chick. She spits it out. She has her own agenda. It manifests in the pictures." [238].

"We were in love with her at that time. We always have been. We wondered to ourselves if she’d ever wear Dolce & Gabbana and we’d ever get the opportunity to express our admiration for her in person, let her know how inspiring and express the gratitude that all fans feel when they meet their idol... our idol. An exaggerated word I know, but I think it’s the correct one where Madonna is concerned! The summer came and went, and one day in September our press office received a page from the International Herald Tribune with a photo of Madonna. She was in Paris, dressed in all black and all Dolce & Gabbana. We were incredibly emotional; Domenico and I still consider this moment today as one of the most intensive of our career. It seemed like a lucky gift for two Madonna fans, and we couldn’t ask for more."

" We arrived early [to meet Madonna], our legs were shaking, and we were incredibly nervous. At that time you could still smoke inside restaurants, and I must have smoked about half a pack of cigarettes whilst I was waiting. Madonna arrived right on time. She was on the set of the film Dick Tracey then, and arrived dressed as a man with make-up like Marlene Dietrich."

"She was sweet and kind, and immediately put us at ease, telling us how much she loved our work, how she loved Italy, and that she was originally from Abruzzo. She was curious to know more about our career, how we’d started, how we worked, where we drew our inspiration from, Sicilian women, Dolce Vita, pop culture and the era of the eighties that had just finished. We didn’t hide our admiration for her for even a minute; we felt a reciprocal kindness, and pretty soon, the lunch developed into one between friends, full of ironic jokes and compliments. We admired her more that we thought possible as fans. We felt like the luckiest fans in the world. We’d met a wonderful person, and above all, a new friend."

Christian Audigier: "She is really all about the detail. She knows exactly what she likes and is always proposing ideas to us. After that she decides whether she wants to add shoes or other things. She's like me, when it's a, 'Yes,' it's a big, 'Yes.' When it's a, 'No,' it's a definite, 'No!' I like people like that, a lot of people are really critical but never give a solution. She is not like that." [240]

"She's one of the most loyal friends I have. When my brother died, the first person that I got a phone call from was Madonna; she said she's there for me in anything I need." (VH1 Behind The Music)

"She inspires me a lot. I made all my Winter collection listening to "Confessions on a Dance Floor."

"The word 'icon' is overused, but in the case of Madonna I believe it has some meaning. She is a true icon. She has become a symbol of modern womanhood - confident, ambitious, dynamic, constantly reinventing herself. She is also a friend of mine and my late brother Gianni so there is a sense in which she symbolized the way in which Versace was staying true to its DNA, while evolving for the 21st century." [242].

Amy Arbus: "Madonna just wandered along like everyone else. I recognized her as the girl who went to my gym — as the girl who would sit around naked longest in the locker room. Now that I think back on it, how could either of us have afforded a gym membership? She still had a last name at that point, and when I told her I worked for the Voice, she said, 'Oh, that’s so funny. They’re reviewing my first single this week.' I recently looked back—it only took six frames to get that picture. I just think the look on her face is so prescient—it really has a sense of knowing what’s in store for her." [243]

Frida Giannini: "Meeting Madonna for the very first time was a shock. She was a myth to me. She was the first poster I hung on my room's wall when I was 14. And then I found herself in front of me, shook her hand. Her immense mediatic power still impresses me. Only to mention that the laminated jacket we made in twelve different versions for her last tour ended up being one of the season's best-sellers would be enough." [244]

"I proposed to Madonna three times, but she refused all the time. Always in very a polite way. She's the only woman I would ever have married. I find her attractive sexually.

"She's still provocative and aggressive. She went mystical and does yoga, and she's a good mother, so of course she's changed. She's still rebellious, though. When she doesn't like something, she says it."

"Madonna’s a wonderful woman. When I first got to New York, I knew very little, and she knew all about the city — she was a wonderful kind of tour guide" [246]

"I actually stayed at Madonna's house in New York City for a short bit when I was in the process of moving between lofts. She let me stay there again, when I moved back to LA and was looking for a place to live. She has a lot of houses all over. So when she's not there or if she's there, she's very kind that way, very generous." [247]

"From the age of 14 I'd watched her videos and thought, ‘I'm going to have sex with that gorgeous woman one day.' For hours we explored each others bodies, kissing every inch. Far from the domineering, sex-crazed woman many think she is, I found her a very gentle lover. It wasn't about whips and chains. Madonna wanted someone she could trust to call when she wanted pleasuring right there and then. I was her secret ‘booty call' available any time of the day or night for secret sex sessions. This woman exuded raw sex appeal and I couldn't get enough of her. I loved the fact I was at this woman's beck and call. It turned me on being ordered to her room whenever she felt like sex." [248][249]

Lee Friedlander: "[She] seemed very confident, a street-wise girl. She told me she was putting a band together but half the kids that age are doing that. She was a good professional model." [250]

"I wanted the campaign to be very bold, very sensual and very atmospheric. To carry off all these references and all this sophistication, we needed the ultimate performer and for me, that is Madonna." [251]

"I was totally just blown away by it, and moved by her performance, by what she had to say, and her energy. She’s so sure of herself as an icon and as a woman. What fascinates me the most about her is her never-ending energy, and the idea of becoming and changing. She’s an artist who’s unafraid to use her voice." [252] (About the desire to hire Madonna in Louis Vuitton’s fashion advertising campaign after attending her Sticky & Sweet concert).

Natassia Malthe: "I'm a fan of Madonna's. I've followed her since I was 10. I'm a huge fan of hers - which woman isn't? She's such a strong person, she's just so different from anybody else. She's sustained herself in this business. I go to everything that is Madonna, she is just an amazing human being." [253]

Steven Klein: "[Madonna] is very clear, surprisingly focused in conceiving innovative pictures. When you think about it you never see her back, you rarely see anyone's back in a photograph and it's fascinating to show its muscular structure". [254].

Fabian Baron: "She's very imposing and knows what she wants. She's very informed and opinionated, which makes her genius. She takes you in and swallows you up—and you don't mind it, you actually enjoy it. There's an unspoken seduction that goes on. I was young, She was young, too, and beautiful. She knows what she's doing. And such drive. Some people want to lift stones and see what's under it. She'll be on a beach with millions of stones and want to lift every one of them." [255]

Jesus Luz: "Madonna is beautiful; a person full of positive energy, with no visible faults. I found her marvellous. She is a person I admire a lot." [256].

Herb Ritts: "I've always said that if you didn't know Madonna necessarily, you'd still be curious about the woman in the photograph." [257]

Gregory David Roberts: "She was so unfussy. I think the thing about Madonna is that she's tremendously intelligent. She's fiercely intelligent; she's very sharp, very funny, very witty, very quick and will not accept second best. She will pick you up immediately in a conversation and defend her position and will put it forward with a rigorous intelligence. I think it's intimidating to a lot of people - I love it! For me it can't get any better than that, so I loved that about her, but I do think a lot of people are intimidated by her and reading it as something that it's not. It's simply a fierce intelligence. She's one of the smartest people you could ever meet." [258]

Jeffrey Fulvimari: "There is only one thing to do with someone as special as Madonna....celebrate her. She told us so in one of her very first songs! But, mostly, she gives us something more to adore every year, and aside from making huge hits, her work in Malawi is something for everyone to emulate. Working with her is a dream come true!!! She has Never ever treated me in any other way but professionally, and with respect. I mean, gosh when the Queen of Pop loves what you do, there's no better feeling!! I really concentrate on the fact that these books are bringing a better life to those most in need in the world, and until more celebrities (and celebrity photographers) step up and do the charitable works she is doing, they cannot speak an ill word about her. People need to stop copying her videos and performances, and copy what really means the most to her...'Raising Malawi'! That's what it's all about!" [259]

"I feel that she has constantly conveyed a message of empowerment to women - that women don't have to seek approval before doing something, that they can be bold and brave and fulfill their potential - and that's very inspiring. She has also been vocal in her support of gay politics and latterly, has become involved in the fight against global poverty. In pop culture terms, she has been hugely influential - very few pop artists are so determined and outspoken. [260]

"Madonna is a force of nature above and beyond the art she creates. It is as if we consume her rather that her music, even when her music is great." [261].

Paulo Coelho: "Today is late Sunday and I just returned from the show of Madonna. And what did I see? A young 50 year-old dancing like a child, a queen, a teenager. It got me thinking about the fact that I believe we are aging differently from the previous generations. I remember for instance my parents at the age of 50 and they were already old, and more importantly they considered themselves as already old." [262]

Christopher Flynn: "She was kind of far-out. One of the best students I've ever had, a very worldly sort of woman even as a child. We would go to gay bars, and she and I would go out and dance our asses off. People would clear away and let her go." [263].

"Madonna loves beautiful women and she is into anyone sexually, male or female, who is beautiful."

"She loves sex and would go after any man she wanted. There's a strong maleness in Madonna. She seduces men the way men seduce women."

"Men were always overwhelmed by Madonna. She's seductive and alluring. She has an amazing ability to manipulate men, based on her sensuality and the possibility of sexual favors. The entourage of young men she had hanging around was just waiting to get into bed with her. But she was a great tease. She kept them at a distance, but always interested and intrigued."

Sandra Bernhard: "...I run into [Madonna] all the time, so it's not like there's any irresolvable strangeness. I like to think of the time when we were hanging out as the end of an era. We played out our friendship in the public forum, but it wasn't drunken or irresponsible airheads hanging out - she's a smart lady and I'm obviously my own brand of intellectual." [266].

"Madonna was really a Lady to me. At least how she dealt with me, I don't know how any of the other dancers felt about her. Inside of her rigid perfectionist, artistic brain there was a real elegance about her. The way that she lived her private life... that's one of the things I was surprised by. I would have thought that she would have had a much more avant-guard private life and she really didn't at all. She was very classy in her private life."

"My fondest memory of Madonna has nothing to do with tours. My fondest memory of Madonna happened in 1995 when I was having a really hard time in my career, Madonna became aware of that and she allowed me to live for a few months in the castle that she had in Hollywood. I stayed there three months, she was out of town for the majority of that time. I will always be in debit to Madonna no matter what. It was a real hard time for me and she reached out in a way she really didn't have to. She could have helped me in other ways but the fact that she truly, truly, let me know that she trusted me in her personal space at that degree really meant a lot to me."

Sofia Boutella: "Amazing. It was really hard work, but it has helped me to know myself a little bit more, I really like Madonna because she is a tireless worker." [269]

Criss Angel: "Madonna is a tremendous example of someone who went to NY with couple of dollars in her pocket and an enormous dream to conquer the world. She did whatever she had to do until she hit the big time. I admired her commitment and determination. She clearly understood what her market wanted in a performer. She's a great example of someone who developed a unique style, look, and brand and then marketed herself as a total package, filling a void that everyone else bought in to and tried to copy. She's an innovative genius." [270]

"Whenever I was with her I always knew I was around a woman who had power and knew how to wield it. She is a big-time businesswoman, and she knows exactly what she wants.

"She's a great lady. If you watch her on TV or in her videos, you get the perception of her as a real hard person who says "Fuck" for twenty minutes on David Letterman. In person, she's nothing like that. I don't remember her swearing to excess when we were out together. She always handled herself elegantly."

"Madonna's my idol and the incarnation of the ultimate star, with what we can imagine of requirement, dictatorship."

"Each year, I wait for three rendez-vous with same impatience: Woody Allen's last movie, the CD or the concert by Madonna and the new book by Philippe Djan."

"Since I am a teenager, I am a fan of Madonna. I admire her determination, her talent, I know her career by heart. To prepare this parody, I saw a documentary again, in order to prepare the expressions of her face. I put the accent on her Diva side, whose desires are orders. A little jacket, a leotard, shoes, I copied her look from her album "Confessions on a Dance Floor", inspired by the beginning of the eighties. Dressed as my idol, I was happy as a kid who put a costume of Superman!"

Jamie King: "She's confident, sensual and strong, but I like to bring out her vulnerability as well." [272]

Yuki Matsumoto: "Madonna inspires creativity and expressions beyond gender, religion, race, nationality, culture and all borders. "Madonna’s philosophy and originality always invigorates the world audience every time she produces a new album. Conventions and trends are challenged and redefined for the new values. "Madonna is in sync with nature and balances her lifestyle to achieve her best physical and mental conditions. Her ever innovative spirits are in tune with her respect of nature. Despite her celebrity and never ending professional activities, Madonna always says FAMILY FIRST. Love and respect for all those who are dear to her are the most important values in life." [273]

"The atmosphere in our city is pretty agitated because this woman is visiting and with incredibly shameful behavior provokes a wild and lustful enthusiasm. Thoughts of lust, impure thoughts, impure acts, are an offense to God and a dirty stain on our heart." [277]

Al Gore: "I appreciate and respect her as an artist and as a person." [279].

Dr. Peter van Ham: "NATO should follow the Madonna-curve, and not wait till its controversies escalate into public wrangles. The argument that tinkering on the edges will do since all challenges can be dealt with one at a time simply does not hold. To be successful, NATO needs a package-deal of painful compromises, where each member state has to give and take. This requires a comprehensive reform effort which only a new strategic concept offers. The quality of adapting to new tasks whilst staying true to one’s own principles is something which business analysts qualify as the Madonna-curve. This curve is named after the legendary pop-diva who reinvented herself each time her style and stardom went into inevitable decline, but whose audacity has lifted her up to ever higher levels of relevance and fame." [280].

"I have a lot of respect for her. She's very committed to making the world a better place." [282]

"She's an amazing entertainer. And it's been amazing how she's been able to stay on top for three decades. She's very smart, and she's passionate about everything she does. If there ever was any situation, she's a great ear to have, you know? I met her about 12 years ago in Miami, believe it or not, That's how we know each other. I was trying to buy her house, and I couldn't afford it." [283]

Tracy Anderson:

"[She has] the most amazing work ethic. Madonna is exquisite to look at and she works hard at it." **[284]

"People say to me, 'Madonna must really boss you around' and I tell them 'No! She’s the most docile, sweet, quiet little student'. Madonna never slacks off. She’s like a gym nerd. I challenge anybody to see Madonna in person and not want her body. What she’s achieved is not unnatural." [285]

She's a dream pupil; She's very driven, listens to what you say and just wants to do it and improve. You can always get somewhere with someone like that. When I started teaching her she hadn't jumped at all and now she can jump a course of 1.05m. Jumping and hacking are her two favorite things.